Turangalîla-Symphonie

The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen (1908–92). It was written from 1946 to 1948 on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Turangalîla-Symphonie
by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen in 1986
Period20th-century music
Composed1946–1948 (rev. 1990)
Durationabout 80 minutes
MovementsTen
ScoringLarge orchestra
Premiere
Date2 December 1949
LocationBoston
ConductorLeonard Bernstein
PerformersBoston Symphony Orchestra
Yvonne Loriod (piano)
Ginette Martenot (ondes Martenot)

The premiere was in Boston on 2 December 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. The commission did not specify the duration, orchestral requirements or style of the piece, leaving the decisions to the composer.[1] Koussevitzky was billed to conduct the premiere, but fell ill, and the task fell to the young Bernstein.[2] Bernstein has been described as "the ideal conductor for it, and it made Messiaen's name more widely known".[3] Yvonne Loriod, who later became Messiaen's second wife, was the piano soloist, and Ginette Martenot played the ondes Martenot for the first and several subsequent performances.

From 1953, Yvonne's sister Jeanne Loriod was the ondes Martenot player in many performances and recordings.[4]

Concept

While most of Messiaen's compositions are religious in inspiration, at the time of writing the symphony the composer was fascinated by the myth of Tristan and Isolde, and the Turangalîla Symphony forms the central work in his trilogy of compositions concerned with the themes of romantic love and death; the other pieces are Harawi for piano with soprano and Cinq rechants for unaccompanied choir.[5] It is considered a 20th-century masterpiece and a typical performance runs around 80 minutes in length. When asked about the meaning of the work's duration in its ten movements and the reason for the use of the ondes Martenot, Messiaen simply replied, "It's a love song."[6]

Although the concept of a rhythmic scale corresponding to the chromatic scale of pitches occurs in Messiaen's work as early as 1944, in the Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus, the arrangement of such durations into a fixed series occurs for the first time in the opening episode of the movement "Turangalîla 2" in this work, and is an important historical step toward the concept of integral serialism.[7]

The title of the work, and those of its movements, were a late addition to the project, chosen after Messiaen made a list of the work's movements. He described the name in his letters from 1947–1948.[8] He derived the title from two Sanskrit words, turanga and līlā, which he explained thus:[6]

"Lîla" literally means play — but play in the sense of the divine action upon the cosmos, the play of creation, destruction, reconstruction, the play of life and death. "Lila" is also love. "Turanga": this is the time that runs, like a galloping horse; this is time that flows, like sand in an hourglass. "Turanga" is movement and rhythm. "Turangalîla" therefore means all at once love song, hymn to joy, time, movement, rhythm, life and death.

Messiaen described the joy of Turangalîla as "superhuman, overflowing, blinding, unlimited".[6] He revised the work in 1990.[4]

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for:

The demanding piano part includes several solo cadenzas.

Cyclic themes
The ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, is used in sensuous and dramatic parts of the Turangalila such as the "love theme"

In writing about the work, Messiaen identified four cyclic themes that reappear throughout; there are other themes specific to each movement.[6] In the score the themes are numbered, but in later writings he gave them names to make them easier to identify, without intending the names to have any other, literary meaning.

Introduced by trombones and tuba, this is the statue theme. According to Messiaen, it has the oppressive, terrible brutality of ancient Mexican monuments, and has always evoked dread. It is played in a slow tempo, pesante.[lower-alpha 1]
This is the flower theme. It is introduced by two clarinets.
This theme, the most important of all, is the love theme. It appears in many different guises, from hushed strings in movement 6, to a full orchestral treatment in the climax of the finale.
A simple chain of chords, used to produce opposing chords on the piano and crossing counterpoints in the orchestra.

Structure

The work is in ten movements, linked by the common themes identified above, and other musical ideas:

  1. Introduction. Modéré, un peu vif
    A "curtain raiser" introducing the "statue theme" and the "flower theme", followed by the body of the movement, which superimposes two ostinato groups with rhythmic punctuations. A reprise of the "statue" theme closes the introduction.
  2. Chant d’amour (Love song) 1. Modéré, lourd
    After an atonal introduction, this movement is built on an alternation of a fast and passionate theme dominated by the trumpets, and a soft and gentle theme for the strings and ondes.
  3. Turangalîla 1. Presque lent, rêveur
    Three themes are stated: one starting with a solo clarinet, the second for low brass and strings, and the third a sinuous theme on the woodwinds. The movement then develops and, later, overlaps the themes, with the addition of a new rhythm in the percussion.
  4. Chant d’amour 2. Bien modéré
    Introduced by a scherzo for piccolo and bassoon, this movement is in nine sections, some of which recall and develop music heard earlier. A calm coda in A major brings it to a close.
  5. Joie du sang des étoiles (Joy of the Blood of the Stars). Vif, passionné avec joie
    A frenetic dance whose main theme is a fast variant of the "statue theme". For Messiaen, it represented the union of two lovers seen as a transformation on a cosmic scale. The dance is interrupted by a shattering piano cadenza before a brief orchestral coda.
  6. Jardin du sommeil d’amour (Garden of Love’s Sleep). Très modéré, très tendre
    The first full rendition of the "love" theme in the strings and ondes is accompanied by idealized birdsong played by the piano, and by other orchestral coloristic effects. According to Messiaen, "The two lovers are enclosed in love's sleep. A landscape comes out from them..."
  7. Turangalîla 2. Un peu vif, bien modéré
    A completely atonal movement that is intended to invoke terror, with a predominant role for the percussion ensemble.
  8. Développement d’amour (Development of Love). Bien modéré
    For Messiaen, the title can be considered in two ways. For the lovers, it is terrible: united by the love potion, they are trapped in a passion growing to the infinite. Musically, this is the work's development section.
  9. Turangalîla 3. Bien modéré
    A theme is introduced by the woodwind. A five-part percussion ensemble introduces a rhythmic series that then sustains a set of superimposed variations on the woodwind theme.
  10. Final. Modéré, presque vif, avec une grande joie
    The movement is in sonata form: A brass fanfare, coupled with a fast variation of the "love theme", is developed and leads to a long coda, a final version of the "love" theme played fortissimo by the entire orchestra. The work ends on an enormous F♯ major chord. In Messiaen's words, "glory and joy are without end".

The composer's initial plan was for a symphony in the conventional four movements, which eventually became numbers 1, 4, 6, and 10. Next, he added the three Turangalîla movements, which he originally called tâlas, a reference to the use of rhythm in Indian classical music. Finally, the 2nd, 5th, and 8th movements were inserted.[9] Early on, Messiaen authorized separate performance of movements 3, 4, and 5, as Three tâlas (not to be confused with the original use of the term for the three Turangalîla movements), but later came to disapprove of the performance of extracts.

Recordings
Maurice Le Roux conducting the Turangalila-Symphonie
Recordings of Turangalîla-Symphonie
ConductorOrchestraPianoOndes martenotLabelCatalogReleasedFormatNotes
Roger DésormièreOrchestre National de la RTFYvonne LoriodGinette MartenotINA1950Live recording on 25 July 1950, of the European premiere at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
Hans RosbaudSWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-BadenYvonne LoriodGinette MartenotWergo1951
Maurice Le RouxOrchestre National de la RTFYvonne LoriodJeanne LoriodVega/Accord
  • VAL 127
  • Vega C 30 ST 20033/4
  • Vega C 35 X 940
 1962
  • Box set
  • 10-inch LPs
  •  
 Recording supervised by Messiaen in 1961. Released in France
Jean FournetNetherlands Radio PhilharmonicYvonne LoriodJeanne LoriodQ Disc1967Live
Seiji OzawaToronto Symphony OrchestraYvonne LoriodJeanne LoriodRCA1967
André PrevinLondon Symphony OrchestraMichel BéroffJeanne LoriodEMISLS 51171977Double LP
Louis de FromentOrchestre Symphonique de RTLYvonne LoriodJeanne LoriodForlane1982Live
Esa-Pekka SalonenPhilharmonia OrchestraPaul CrossleyTristan Murail
  • CBS Masterworks
  • Sony
  • I2M 42126
  • G010003836824C
  • 1985
  • 2018
  • 2 LPs
  • CD
Simon RattleCity of Birmingham Symphony OrchestraPeter DonohoeTristan MurailEMI
  • EX270468-3
  • 747463-8
 1986
  • LP
  • CD
Myung-Whun ChungOrchestre de l'Opéra BastilleYvonne LoriodJeanne LoriodDeutsche Grammophon0289 431 7812 91990CDFirst recording of the revised version, supervised by Messiaen.
Riccardo ChaillyRoyal Concertgebouw OrchestraJean-Yves ThibaudetTakashi HaradaDecca
  • London 436 626-2
  • 1993
  • 2012
  •  
  • CD
Marek JanowskiOrchestre philharmonique de Radio FranceRoger MuraroValérie Hartmann-ClaverieRCA1992
Yan Pascal TortelierBBC PhilharmonicHoward ShelleyValérie Hartmann-ClaverieChandosCHAN96781998CD
Antoni WitPolish National Radio Symphony OrchestraFrançois WeigelThomas BlochNaxos8.554478-9December 1998CD
Hans VonkSaint Louis Symphony OrchestraGarrick OhlssonJean LaurendeauPentatone1999Live
Kent NaganoBerliner PhilharmonikerPierre-Laurent AimardDominique KimTeldec8573-82043-22001CDLive recording in March 2000 in Berlin
Norichika IimoriTokyo Symphony OrchestraKazuoki FujiiTakashi HaradaCanyon2001
Ryusuke NumajiriJapan Philharmonic OrchestraIchiro NodairaTakashi HaradaExton2002Live
Thierry FischerBBC National Orchestra of WalesRoger MuraroJacques TchamkertenBBC Music2006Live
Hiroyuki IwakiMelbourne Symphony OrchestraKaori KimuraTakashi HaradaABC Classics48128732007CDLive recording in 1985. Re-released 2007.
Sylvain CambrelingSWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und FreiburgRoger MuraroValérie Hartmann-ClaverieHänssler Classic93.2252008CD
Juanjo MenaBergen Philharmonic OrchestraSteven OsborneCynthia MillarHyperionA678162012CD
Hannu LintuFinnish Radio Symphony OrchestraAngela HewittValérie Hartmann-ClaverieOndineODE125152014CD
Yutaka SadoTonkünstler OrchestraRoger MuraroValérie Hartmann-ClaverieTonkünstler OrchestraTON20052018CD
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See also
  • Classic 100 Music of France (ABC)
  • Leela (Futurama) (character named for the Turangalila-Symphonie)

Notes
  1. This example is taken from the CD booklet included with the Chung recording.[6] It was written in Messiaen's own hand, and has the low D (D2) assigned to the third trombone as shown. However, in the published 1990 score,[4] the note is written an octave higher (D3).

References
  1. Program notes provided with the Naxos Records recording by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra with François Weigel (piano), Thomas Bloch (ondes Martenot) and Antoni Wit (conductor).
  2. Thomas Barker, "The Social and Aesthetic Situation of Olivier Messiaen's Religious Music: Turangalîla-Symphonie." International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music. 43, no. 1 (2012): 53–70; citation on 53
  3. Andrew Ford (2012). Try Whistling This: Writings about Music. Collingwood, Victoria.: Black Inc. p. 261. ISBN 9781863955713.
  4. Full score, pub, Durand.
  5. Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone (2005). Messiaen. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10907-5.
  6. Messiaen, Olivier (2004) [1991]. Turangalîla-Symphonie (CD liner booklet). Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille, Myung-whun Chung, Yvonne Loriod, Jean Loriod. Deutsche Grammophon. p. 1. DG 431 781–2.; Page, Tim (20 February 2002). "Live Online: Classical Music Forum". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  7. Robert Sherlaw Johnson, Messiaen, revised and updated edition (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1989): 94, 192.
  8. Hill 2005, 172
  9. Hill 2005, 171
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